Life is too short to drink bad wine (or wear cheap shoes!).

I am a believer that life is too short to drink bad wine. While I do not drink $500 bottles of wine, I don't drink $5 bottles. In fact, I drink so little wine, that when I do, I truly enjoy the better qualities. When I get involved in something I get rather passionate about it for a while. Which brings me to my current blog topic. Last weekend hubby, John, and I drove from Lakeside, Oregon (So Oregon Coast) to Los Gatos, Ca, to visit his oldest son, Scott. We left Friday at 1 and arrived at Scott's at 11pm. The next morning the 3 of us drive back north into Napa Valley. I took control (naturally) and told hubby to take a side road. I didn't want to visit the huge wineries with the crowds of people. The first place we stopped at was Silver Oaks. A beautiful building, with mature gentlemen in suits. A somewhat upscale image. Scott and I tasted a 100% Cabernet and a blend. I came away with 2 bottles of Cab (1 was for a gift) and a really cute hand made bag from Sally Spicer. I couldn't help it. I'm passionate about textiles too! What drew my eye was the brown and green colors.

The 2nd winery was just down the road, Plump Jack. This winery had a totally opposite personality. Walking through the door was like walking into a lively bar full of young people. It was difficult to get up to the bar for sampling. The tender caught my eyes a few times, understanding that I was trying. Eventually we tasted 2 wines, but didn't really enjoy the crowd. We did enjoy sitting on their back porch looking into their grapevine fields. We came away with no purchases from this cute places. Eventually we returned to St Helena and selected the Louis M Martini winery to visit. It was late, but we did go on a tour. It was a great tour and Catherine our guide was very passionate about her employer. I ended up with another Cabernet and 2 bottles of a desert wine (very sweet-yummy!!) We ended the day at some friends with a delicious chicken barbeque on the back deck.

Sunday, was fun for me. The men took me into downtown Los Gatos (simply walking down the street from Scott's). We checked out the spa hotel (someday!!) and the unique and fun shops. One of the stops was at a small yarn store called Yarn Dogs. Of course I came away with 2 hanks of silk yarn! Brunch was in the park with sandwiches and coffee from the Bagel shop. After more window shopping, we hopped into the car and headed into San Jose to visit the Winchester Mystery House. The house was very interesting and I loved the finishing work. But I was a little dissappointed. I guess I expected a little bit more "entertainment" during the tour. But right across the street was Santana Row. If you like to shop, and you like top of the line and brand name products, you must visit this place! My favorite shoes are Cole Haan Nike Airs. Of course I had to come away with 2 pairs! Isn't this one cute? The color I bought is a dark metallic green silver. Very unusual.

It was great to get home. Within a day, Janene and I were caught up with shipping. The store itself was quiet this week, as compared to last week, but the website was very busy. I have quite a few pictures to take, edit and post on the web site of new colors of Baby Alpaca Chunky and Cascade 220 colors. Not to mention that all the new exclusive Lorna's Laces colors need to be photographed. I photographed the Renaissance Romance Revelation this morning. I loved the way the wool is so deeply saturated with those colors. But the picture was just "off". The green faded to a dull flat green, the chocolate didn't look as rich as it is and the dark red looked pinkish. So I will try again tomorrow, maybe going outside for a different type of light. Also, I shipped in some of Figheadh other patterns. I really like her zipped hoodie designs. Those aren't even on my web. Maybe this evening with my feet up, and a newly opened bottle of wine I can get those up. Well, mmmm, maybe not!! Time to close up shop for today. I'm taking my youngest niece out for a girls day! She's so excited. She was telling everyone that Tante and she have a "special" day planned today. Have a great weekend. Talk to you again soon!